Hellkom readies defence against Telkom

Back to the Legal View Home Page 19 August 2004
Å Legal View
Hellkom readies defence against Telkom
BY PAUL VECCHIATTO, ITWEB CAPE TOWN CORRESPONDENT
[Cape Town | ITWeb, 19 August 2004] - Parody site Hellkom is shoring up its defence for an anticipated Telkom lawsuit by launching a premium rate SMS service, which allows people to send messages of support at a cost of R30 per SMS.

Hellkom owner Gregg Stirton says there have been a number of changes since the site came under Telkom's legal spotlight a week ago. Some of the controversial logos have been removed and the domain name has been transferred to his name.

“Unfortunately, someone has reactivated the telkomsucks.0catch.com site with a link back to Hellkom. However, it was not me and I have nothing to do with it,” he says.

The original letter sent to Stirton by Telkom's lawyers, Adams & Adams, cited Stirton as being the owner of telkomsucks.0catch.com and threatened to take legal action in a “US high court”. The letter also misquoted the various acts and laws under which Telkom planned to sue Stirton.

Ravin Maharaj, Telkom's media liaison specialist, confirms that the company plans to pursue the matter against Stirton despite a letter sent in reply that was critical of Adams & Adams' original letter and which pointed out its flaws.

“The reply was not deemed to have addressed the matter at hand,” he says.

Maharaj, however, says he does not expect any further developments in the case this week.

Stirton says he expects the legal papers to be delivered to his appointed legal representatives, Michalson Attorneys, this week.

He says any money left over from the defence fund will be donated to charity.

"In the circumstances, I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me a simple and unambiguous statement of what exactly it is that your client wants and on what sensible legal grounds (if any) it claims to be entitled to it." </b>

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